Friday, June 24, 2011

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. (John 20:1-10)

It was a race! For some reason the idea of these two burly men racing each other up and down the hilly, poorly stated paths makes me chuckle. And it was a race because scriptures tell us plainly that one arrived first. It would have been pretty easy to just state that they arrived and did their thing, but one arrived first while the other came in a few moments later and was able to enter the tomb first.

I love information and I will admit to great enjoyment when I can deliver new information to people. There is not much more fun for me than telling friends something they don’t know and watching their face as they take it all in. I especially love telling them great news and watching their reactions to that.

Mary was worried. It had yet to occur to her that something amazing had happened. She was terrified that something awful had occurred. Simon Peter and the other disciple knew her well enough to recognize she wasn’t exaggerating and took off to see for themselves.

They had to see for themselves before they could believe. They didn’t understand that Jesus would rise from the dead because they knew the Scripture, but because they saw for themselves.

The race is on! The world needs to see to believe. Peter and the other disciple saw the empty grave cloths lying there. People will see our changed lives and the empty grave cloths of our old selves. They want to know that what Jesus says is true and the only way to do so is to see transformation in our lives.